“Price Opens the Door, but Quality Keeps the Customer” — Kormotech at PrivateLabel&FMCG Master 2026

Pet nutrition remains one of the most dynamic FMCG categories. According to secondary sales research, in the first six months of 2026 alone, Ukraine’s supermarket pet food market grew by approximately 15% in volume and 28% in value. According to Roman Sluhaiev, this growth is being driven by two parallel trends. On the one hand, the humanization of pets is encouraging pet parents to pay closer attention to product ingredients. On the other hand, the economic environment is pushing consumers to seek the best balance between price and value. The private label segment is developing rapidly at the intersection of these two trends, while leading Ukrainian retailers are gradually moving from a single basic economy line to full-fledged private label portfolios.

“In modern retail, retailers themselves are becoming competitors to established brands through their private labels, and the shelf is becoming their main media channel. Shoppers often choose not between a brand and a private label, but between the products placed within their strongest field of view. Merchandising therefore determines who gets a chance to be purchased in those final three seconds at the shelf. Ultimately, it is not only the product that wins the shopper, but also its visibility,” Roman Sluhaiev emphasized.

It is a mistake to assume that established brands and retailers’ private labels simply take customers away from one another. In reality, they complement the assortment. For consumers, the key factor is confidence that a more affordable price does not mean compromising on quality.

Ukrainian retailers are rapidly developing this segment. For example, Silpo is launching new private labels such as Hey Pet and E-zoo, while in ATB stores, according to estimates from Kormotech’s merchandising team, private labels such as PetsUp may already account for up to 50% of the pet food shelf space. Kormotech, for its part, demonstrates that quality in this segment can remain high: pet food formulated specifically for retailers can contain 68–70% meat ingredients. Many Ukrainians are already familiar with the results of this approach. The company produces a significant share of wet pet food for the Velyka Kyshenia retail chain, including the Happy Animal line, as well as most of METRO’s private label pet food range.

In the pet food category, two parties effectively make the decision: the person buys the product, but the cat or dog decides whether to eat it. If the animal refuses the food, any price advantage immediately loses its value. Price only opens the door, but quality is what keeps the customer.

Roman Sluhaiev concluded that the retailer that finds the right balance wins, the manufacturer capable of guaranteeing quality wins, and, above all, the customer wins by having enough choice to select the right nutrition for their pet based on their own needs and budget.